Zhu Qizhen glanced at Sun Xiangyong, and unconsciously Sun Xiangyong was also old.

When the two of them were convicted together in Warat, Sun Xiang sacrificed his life to save the emperor. Every time there is no food, Sun Xiangyong gives his food to Zhu Qizhen, and Sun Xiangyong, who is not wearing, takes off his clothes to protect the emperor, and whenever he is beaten, Sun Xiangyong stands up and beats for Zhu Qizhen.

In those ten years, Sun Xiangyong didn't know how much suffering he endured for Zhu Qizhen and how many whips he blocked for Zhu Qizhen.

Whenever Zhu Qizhen thought of these things, he felt very sorry for Sun Xiangyong in his heart, and he felt a little uncomfortable about his suspicion of Sun Xiangyong at that time, so he said softly: "Thank you." I thank Grandpa Sun for so many years, Grandpa Sun, you have worked hard. ”

"Being able to do things for the emperor and staying by the emperor's side is the blessing of the old slave, this kind of blessing cannot be cultivated by many people and how many lifetimes of practice, how can the old slave feel hard."

Zhu Qizhen heard Sun Xiang say this, and suddenly felt warm in his heart.

Although Zhu Qizhen is the emperor, except for Queen Qian and Sun Xiangyong in this palace, few people can speak from their hearts. is with Jian Huaizhen, because the two of them are involved in too many conflicts of interest above the court, they can't speak in their hearts. The ministers of the imperial court, everyone only knows intrigue, how can they tell the truth to Zhu Qizhen, only Sun Xiangyong can't.

It turned out that Li Daoji was bought by Sun Xiangyong and Cao Jixiang, and Sun Xiangyong and Cao Jixiang wanted to use Li Daoji to attack Xu Youzhen.

Sun Xiang knew the emperor's words and deeds best, and he knew that the emperor was troubled by Zhu Qiyu's matter, so he tried his best to lure the emperor outside the palace and let the emperor see Li Daoji. Then he asked Li Daoji to point out Xu Youzhen's ancestral tomb to the emperor, and then arranged the story of Wang Yuanwai to frame Xu Youzhen.

All this was done seamlessly, the only thing they didn't expect was that the emperor did not punish Xu Youzhen for this, and the emperor put up with it in his heart.

When Cao Jixiang learned about it, he couldn't help but be angry and scolded.

Sun Xiangyong was calm, and he said to Cao Jixiang: "The emperor is a kind person, he must be grateful to Xu Youzhen for his support back then." Since he will be grateful to Xu Youzhen, when the eldest brother does something wrong, the emperor will definitely remember your kindness to him at the beginning, which is a good thing. And the longer these things are suppressed in the emperor's heart, the deeper the emperor remembers. I believe that as long as Xu Youzhen does a few more wrong things, the emperor will not let him go so easily. ”

Cao Jixiang heard Sun Xiang say this, and his heart gradually calmed down.

Sure enough, Xu Youzhen didn't let go of Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng so easily, since he bought Sun Xiangyong, he would often ask Sun Xiangyong about Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng's news, and inquire about the emperor's news.

On this day, he asked Sun Xiangyong again, "Father-in-law Sun, I don't know what the emperor's impression of Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng is recently?" ”

"Cao Jixiang?" Sun Xiangyong thought for a while and said, "Don't hide it, since our family has received Lord Xu's gift, we will definitely do things for Lord Xu." Recently, the emperor has been very dissatisfied with Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng, and he is dissatisfied with Cao Jixiang because the people under Cao Jixiang are becoming more and more lawless; And he was dissatisfied with Shi Heng because Shi Heng led his troops to fight outside, obviously wounding more than a dozen of his own army, but he came back to report his military exploits, saying that he had ambushed a group of Warats and was participated by the commander, and the emperor was depressed about these two things. ”

Xu Youzhen was very happy when he heard this, he knew that this was a good time for him to participate in Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang. Xu Youzhen had participated in Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng once before, and achieved certain results.

After the emperor received Xu Youzhen's participation, he dealt with Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng respectively.

Xu Youzhen saw that Cao Jixiang was trying to deal with herself, so she thought about participating in this thing again. He inquired about the relationship between Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng and the emperor from Sun Xiangyong, and then returned to the mansion in a hurry.

After returning to the mansion, he immediately sent his subordinates to invite Li Xian. Among the officials of the imperial court, he couldn't trust anyone, and the only one he could trust was Li Xian. Because Li Xian often helps him with advice and helps him do something.

Soon Li Xian was invited.

After Li Xian came back, he first saluted Xu Youzhen and said, "Lord Xu, I don't know what you have to do with inviting the lower officials today?" As long as Li Xian can help, he will definitely die. ”

"Master Li, it's serious. I invited Master Li here, and I did have something to discuss with Lord Li, I don't know what Lord Li thinks? ”

"Please." Li Xian hugged his fist.

Xu Youzhen said: "That's the case, I recently got the news, I heard from Grandpa Sun that the emperor was very dissatisfied with Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng, and was thinking of an opportunity to treat them. In this case, why don't we visit Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng last time, I believe that the emperor will definitely punish them, so that we will benefit from the fisherman. ”

Li Xian looked at Xu Youzhen proudly, as if he had picked up a big treasure, and secretly said in his heart: I don't know what is dead or alive. Although he thought so in his heart, he showed great enthusiasm on the surface.

"There is such a thing, so good, it is really an opportunity!"

Xu Youzhen nodded again and again, and said: "The old man also thinks that this is a good opportunity, as long as he can participate in Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang and kill them all, this court will be the old man's world in the future." ”

"Ha, ha, ha" He laughed several times in a row, very arrogant and proud.

Li Xian saw that Xu Youzhen was proud, and he also laughed together.

In fact, Li Xian saw the whole situation clearly, and he also heard Jian Huaizhen say about the land in Xu Youzhen's ancestral tomb. Although he didn't understand whether Sun Xiangyong was intentional or unintentional, and why he would help Cao Jixiang. But one thing he knows very well is that today's Xu Youzhen is no longer the original Xu Youzhen, and the current situation is very different from the situation at that time.

At that time, Xu Youzhen participated in Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng, and the reason why he won the trust of the emperor was that the emperor also suppressed Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang.

First, because the emperor wants to check and balance power and balance power, which is a means to control the ministers.

There is another reason, that is, the emperor trusted Xu Youzhen very much at that time, and Xu Youzhen was omnipotent in the court.

The current situation is very different, the emperor was known by Cao Jixiang because of the last time he talked to Xu Youzhen, and he already distrusted Xu Youzhen, feeling that this person was an untrustworthy person. And because of the matter of the land in Jingwang Temple, the emperor was disappointed in Xu Youzhen, he didn't expect Xu Youzhen to forcibly seize and oppress the people. Even the land he likes dares to rob and use it to build ancestral tombs, such a person is really lawless.

Although Zhu Qizhen didn't say anything, he wrote down everything clearly and clearly in his heart.

In front of him, when the mountain rain was about to come and the wind was full of buildings, Li Xian's discerning eyes could naturally see it clearly.

The so-called bystanders are clear, and the only one who can't see clearly is Xu Youzhen, who is in his realm.

Xu Youzhen said to Li Xian: "Master Li, after the old man's careful consideration, I feel that there is a person who is very suitable to participate in Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng. ”

"Who is it?" Li Xian chuckled in his heart and said, "He won't let me go, right?"

Sure enough, Xu Youzhen said to Li Xian, "Lord Li Xian, the person I'm talking about is you." As an important minister of the imperial court, Lord Li was able to help the old man participate in Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng, which can be regarded as a contribution to the country and the society. Get rid of these two traitorous ministers and remove moths for the country, Lord Li won't refuse to agree, right? ”

Li Xian lowered his head, pondered for a while, raised his head again, and said: "The boss has a life, Li Xian naturally doesn't dare to disobey, but this matter still has to be considered in the long run." Now that the boss has gotten the inside information, then participating in Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng will definitely succeed, and the boss has an order for Li Xianyan to dare not obey? It's just that everyone in the court knows that Li Xian is very close to Lord Xu, and he often gives advice to Lord Xu. If Li Xian came forward to participate in Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng, the emperor might not be able to listen to it, and the emperor might suspect that Lord Xu and Li Xian were conspiring to deliberately suppress Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng, and then Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang might not get the punishment they deserved for this reason. ”

Xu Youzhen listened to what Li Xian said, which seemed to make sense. He thought about it for a while, and felt that this was indeed the case.

Li Xian often went in and out of Xu Youzhen's mansion, and the two had a close relationship and had a lot of friendships, and everyone in the court knew about it. If Li Xian's participation in the performance may not be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort, thinking of this, he helped the gauze hat on his head, and turned to Li Xian and asked: "Since Lord Li feels that he is not suitable, I wonder if Lord Li has any candidates in his heart that he can recommend?" ”

Li Xian thought for a while, and then said to Xu Youzhen: "There is one person who can be used." ”

"Who is it?" Xu Youzhen asked eagerly.

Li Xian said: "That person is Zhang Peng. ”

"Zhang Peng? Who is Zhang Peng? Xu Youzhen thought about it for a long time, but she couldn't think of an official named Zhang Peng in the imperial court.

Li Xian smiled, gently approached Xu Youzhen's side, and said to him: "This Zhang Peng is none other than Cao Jixiang's nephew and distant nephew. ”

"What? Cao Jixiang's distant nephew? Let Cao Jixiang's distant nephew go to participate in Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng, how could he agree? ”

"That's not true, this Zhang Peng wants to enter the cabinet very much, but he has never had the opportunity. What's more, Cao Jixiang usually doesn't take care of him very much, and now he is just a small five-rank official. If Lord Xu can let him enter the cabinet, and then entrust him with important tasks to participate in Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng, this is both reasonable and reasonable. No matter where you come from, you can say it, I don't know what Lord Xu thinks? ”

Xu Youzhen always felt that there was something wrong with these things, but he couldn't say anything wrong. He thought about it himself, and he couldn't think of a better plan than Li Xian's plan. Thinking about it, it seems that in the end, you can only use Li Xian's strategy.

So in desperation, he had no choice but to say: "That's it, that's it, just do what Brother Li Xian said." Mr. Li has also given me advice before, and every time Mr. Li has come up with a plan, it is very effective. The old man believes that this strategy of Lord Li this time will definitely be able to successfully defeat Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng. ”

"Of course, the person who participated in Cao Jixiang was Cao Jixiang's distant nephew, and even his own relatives participated, so they must have done something great and bad to the people. What's more, the evidence of the two of them doing a lot of evil and the evidence of corruption and bribery are all caught in one go, and Lord Xu is not worried about not finding evidence, right? Li Xian asked.

Xu Youzhen nodded and said, "That's right, since that's the case, let's do what Master Li says." ”

After the two of them discussed, Xu Youzhen decided to take action.

Xu Youzhen knew that Zhang Peng wanted to enter the cabinet, so he asked the emperor to let Zhang Peng enter the cabinet.

The emperor has never been very concerned about the affairs of the cabinet, and Xu Youzhen has always had the final say. Now although Xu Youzhen has fallen out of favor, the emperor doesn't want to hit him seriously all at once. Therefore, when he proposed to let an inconsequential Zhang Peng enter the cabinet, the emperor still agreed, and Zhang Peng entered the cabinet.

Next, after Zhang Peng entered the cabinet, he was very grateful to Xu Youzhen for his promotion, and he was as sincere to Xu Youzhen as he was a teacher.

Xu Youzhen summoned Zhang Peng to his home and quietly discussed the action with him, and he ordered Zhang Peng to write to the emperor to impeach Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang.

This timing also has an advantage, because Shi Heng is out on the expedition at the moment, and he can just break Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng respectively. And at this time, Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang were impeached, only Cao Jixiang could argue with the emperor, Shi Heng led the troops to go out, he wanted to impeach but unfortunately could not return to the capital.

After Zhang Peng accepted Xu Youzhen's order, he went back and thought about the whole thing, and he felt that it was Xu Youzhen who was favored by the emperor now. After all, Xu Youzhen has always been a cabinet minister, has power in his hands, and can do something for the imperial court. Shi Heng is just a military general, and Cao Jixiang is just a eunuch, and the two of them are much inferior to Xu Youzhen, so it may not be a good thing to take refuge in Xu Youzhen. What's more, the last time someone impeached Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang, they were both rewarded by the emperor, and that person was also Xu Youzhen's person.

In Zhang Peng's heart, Xu Youzhen was an invincible person, so he immediately obeyed Xu Youzhen's instructions and wrote a piece of music to impeach Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang to the emperor.

What Xu Youzhen didn't expect was that Li Xian had already told Shi Heng about the flying pigeon transmission a few days before Xu Youzhen wrote the book.

After Shi Heng received the news, he knew that Xu Youzhen was going to send someone to the emperor to impeach him, and he could still sit at the border. Immediately rode back to the palace day and night, ready to confess to the emperor, and counterattacked Xu Youzhen by the way.

After Shi Heng came back, he immediately ran to Cao Jixiang's place to discuss with Cao Jixiang.

When Shi Heng saw Cao Jixiang, he opened his mouth and said, "Grandpa Cao, do you know one thing? ”

Cao Jixiang knew that Shi Heng was originally fighting at the border pass, but when he suddenly saw him at his home, he felt very strange, so he asked, "Lord Shi, didn't you lead troops to fight at the border pass?" Why did you suddenly return to the capital? But what happened? ”

Shi Heng patted his chest and said, "It's not a big deal, it's really a big deal, I don't know if Brother Cao, do you remember the last time Xu Youzhen sent someone to impeach us, and we were severely punished by the emperor?" Now Xu Youzhen plans to repeat his old tricks and impeach us again. Fortunately, Li Xianren was good and told me, so I hurried back to the palace to discuss with Gonggong Cao. I hope we can negotiate a countermeasure and not let Xu Youzhen take the lead. ”

Cao Jixiang listened to Shi Heng's words, and his face was not angry at all, but laughed.

Shi Heng didn't know why Cao Jixiang was so calm in the face of Xu Youzhen's impeachment, and laughed, as if he was confident. He stepped forward and asked, "Gonggong Cao, why are you still so calm, did you have a countermeasure?" Tell my little brother to listen, my little brother can't wait, I rushed back all the way for this matter, I am really physically and mentally exhausted. ”

Cao Jixiang heard Shi Heng say this, and knew that Shi Heng was very worried about being impeached by Xu Youzhen, so he hurriedly said: "Master Shi sit down and have a cup of tea, and let our family talk to you slowly." ”

So Cao Jixiang told him how he met Sun Xiangyong in the palace, the two brothers knew each other, and how Sun Xiangyong helped him fight Xu Youzhen.

After finishing speaking, Cao Jixiang patted the table and said with a smile: "What our family is afraid of now is not Xu Youzhen's movement, but Xu Youzhen's fact that he won't do anything." If Xu Youzhen doesn't do anything, we won't be able to catch any tricks, and now Xu Youzhen wants to impeach us, I believe that the emperor will not only not believe him, but will take this opportunity to deal with him well. ”

"Oh? According to Gonggong Cao's meaning, it means that the emperor has long been unbearable to Xu Youzhen, and he has already wanted to deal with Xu Youzhen, but he has never had a chance. Shi Heng asked.

Cao Jixiang blinked his two small eyes, smiled slyly, and said, "That's not the case." The emperor is soft-hearted and has never dealt with Xu Youzhen, but he didn't expect Xu Youzhen, an old fox, to be so angry now, and he deserves to capsize in the gutter. As soon as the edict of his impeachment of us went up, we immediately cried to the emperor, and when the time came, my second brother said some good things about us in front of the emperor and said bad things about Xu Youzhen, and I believe that the emperor will punish Xu Youzhen heavily. ”

"But there is one thing, I don't know if Gonggong Cao, do you know?" Shi Heng was not as settled as Cao Jixiang, and still asked with some concern.

"Oh, what? Master Shi, just say it, come and listen. ”

"It's this time that Xu Youzhen sent out to impeach us is none other than Zhang Peng, your distant nephew of Gonggong Cao."

"Zhang Peng?" Cao Jixiang tried hard to think of this person, wanted to remember this person from his mind, he thought about it for a long time, thought about it for a long time, and finally remembered who this Zhang Peng was.

Although Zhang Peng is related to Cao Jixiang and can be regarded as Cao Jixiang's nephew, in fact, the relationship between the two is very far away.

Cao Jixiang laughed out loud and said, "What's the difference between Zhang Peng, Wang Peng, Sun Peng, and Zhao Peng, they are all Xu Youzhen's people." This Zhang Peng does have something to do with our family, but he is already a relative who can't beat the eight poles. He impeached us to the emperor, and we can just tell the emperor that Xu Youzhen had the intention to bring Zhang Peng to the cabinet. Then he wanted to borrow Zhang Peng's hand to hit us, the so-called virtuous people do not avoid relatives, and they will not avoid their relatives when they punish evil. Our family beat a rake, biting Zhang Peng and Xu Youzhen back, and see how Xu Youzhen ends up when he arrives. ”